Hello everyone. As i didnt get a single response to my last post yet, I am wondering if this the correct section I am putting them in, or maybe no one has seen any and cannot give a response. Anyway i have 2 other coins/tokens that i could do with putting a value on . Please see pics and let me know if you can tell me anything about them. They look to be made out of a lower grade silver and measure approx 1 inch across.
alphaphil Sorry, but i have no idea about them. Perhaps you should post them to the foreign section of the forum.
Thanks for the reply. I only know how to post on this section as I cant find the right page to post on other sections.
I know nothing about them, other than they appear to have been carved, not minted, perhaps as fantasy pieces.
They appear to be some sort of modern tokens or tourist souvenirs about King Edward of England. I doubt they have any value.
Hello everyone. Thanks for your comments. i know its hard to try and id something from a picture.As I have collected coins for over 30 years I can assure you they are not modern. If they were modern day copies I doubt that they would have spelt reigned as rained. I agree with you that they are engraved, I was just wondering if anyone had seen anything like these before.I know i have had some good success from this forum before.
That is precisely why I think they are modern tourist souvenirs. No real engraver or mint employee would make such a mistake.
I contacted a specialist at a museum and he gave me the following info "These two items appear to be early 17th-century silver counters in the style of Simon Passe (c.1574-c.1644). Passe developed a method to mass-produce medals and counters in a manner that would resemble hand engraving. The subjects of your two counters are two English kings: Edward the Confessor (1042-66) and Edward IV (1461-70, 1471-83), and they presumably came from a set that would have shown a series of English monarchs. Simon Passe sold counters in sets of 36, contained in a silver box."
Then you need to tell this guy at the museum that he needs to further his education. Those things are milled - that means made with a machine. And milled coinage, and that includes tokens, was not even invented until 1643 in France. The British didn't adopt it until about 30 years later. Not only that, but the legends on all coins and tokens in that period were in Latin - not English.
These are Silver Counters, in imitation of engraving, by or in the style of Dutch artist Simon van de Passe, c.1616-1625, from a series of Sovereigns of England showing Edward the Confessor and Edward the IV both standing figures. here is an example of his original work in the form of a silver counter: He was VERY prolific and created the famous portrait of Pocahontas: I cannot say if they are real of course. I have seen a lot of 3 or 4 in that series sell for about 150 dollars. another example with William I, the Conquerer : I have yet to see one of these listed without saying this: by or in the style of which would mean, I assume, they dont know if they are imitations of his work, or by him. I wouldnt comment on the likelyhood that yours are original.
The style seems slightly crude to me. I'd go with something more like "in the style of..." A slightly later date would also explain the seemingly incongruous use of a milled coin as a canvas.
